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Following last season’s sensational international tour of An Evening with Liam Ó Maonlaí and Cassandra Wilson, Irish Arts Center is pleased to be presenting Chronicles in New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Asheville, and other cities in the Northeast and Midwest.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Declan O’Rourke returns to Irish Arts Center with a powerful live performance of his epic song cycle Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine, leading an eight-piece ensemble of top folk, traditional, and classical musicians, including John Sheahan of the Dubliners, Dermot Byrne of Altan, Caitríona Frost of Celtic Woman, and Cillian Vallely of Lúnasa.

Winner of a 2018 RTÉ Radio One Folk Award and inspired by O’Rourke’s own family history, Chronicles is an empathic portrait of the forgotten and a vivid musical evocation of Ireland through the incomprehensible hardship of the Great Famine.

Declan O’Rourke is a critically-acclaimed singer and songwriter from Dublin who frequently tours in Europe, America and Australia. In 2013, O’Rourke released his third studio album Mag Pai Zai, which garnered accolades from such national media outlets as The Wall Street Journal, American Songwriter, NPR’s World Café, USA Today, and Mountain Stage. Following that, he released In Full Colour, a collection of fifteen brand new recordings of musical treasures from across his career, newly backed by a full 50-piece orchestra. In 2017, after 15 years of work, he released Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine, pairing the best of traditional Irish music and the heart of modern song-writing to present extraordinary stories from the most dynamic period in Ireland’s history.

Floriane Blancke

Born in Paris, France, Floriane Blancke is a harpist, fiddler, pianist and vocalist who has been embraced into Irish traditional music circles over the past numbers of years. She studied classical music for 10 years in the Conservatoire of Bordeaux before spending a few years studying jazz and world music in the C.I.A.M Jazz School. After moving to Ireland from France to pursue a full-time career in traditional music in 2006, Floriane is now recognized as a skilled harpist and has performed with luminaries such as Sharon Shannon, Dermot Byrne, Frankie Gavin, the RTE Concert Orchestra, Steve Cooney, and Paddy Keenan.

In 2012, Floriane and Dermot Byrne released their first award-winning, eponymous duet album Dermot Byrne and Floriane Blancke. While for the most part, Floriane’s collaborations are traditional, she has shown her versatility in sharing the stage with contemporary artists such as Shane McGowan of the Pogues, singer songwriter Declan O'Rourke, and the world renowned vocalist Patti Smith. Floriane has recently released her first solo album Kaleidoscope and she’s currently touring with Declan O'Rourke.

Dermot Byrne

Dermot Byrne hails from the Inishowen peninsula and was awarded the TG4’s Traditional Musician of the Year 2013. As well as his mastery of the Donegal style and repertoire, Dermot can turn to other styles and traditions such as French musette or South American choro music. He was a member of Altan from 1994 to 2013, and has collaborated with Seamus and Manus McGuire, Sharon Shannon, The Stunning, the late jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli, and others. His eponymous solo recording, reissued recently, received great critical acclaim.

Rob Calder

Rob Calder was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, and moved to NYC with his wife Lisa and two cats. He has enjoyed a strong relationship with brilliant NYC singers including Michael Brunnock and Colin Smith, and also producers Kieran Kelly and Ken Lewis, and has toured with the likes of Ari, Angus & Julia Stone, Passenger, and Declan O’Rourke. Recently, he broadened his relationship to producer with Ari.

Caitriona Frost

Hailing from Cork Ireland, Caitríona's first introduction to percussion was in the Ballincollig Concert Band at the age of four when she was given an egg shaker. Now Dublin based, Caitríona performs regularly with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of the Wexford Festival Opera Orchestra and of Bangers and Crash (a collective of top freelance percussionists in Dublin). She is currently the percussionist for world renowned ensemble Celtic Woman.

Caitríona is also a busy drummer. Recent artists she has performed with include Declan O'Rourke, Hayley Westenra and Rebecca Storm. She has performed a host of musicals, one of which was the acclaimed Alice in Funderland premiered in the The Abbey Theatre.

As an educator she has worked in the outreach departments of The National Concert Hall, Wexford Opera Festival, and for Classical Kids. She also facilitated percussion sectionals and mentored in the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble.

Caitríona holds a Master in Performance, First Class Honours, from the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Chris Herzberger

At five years of age, Chris Herzberger began a classical violin soloist education; his main influence and mentor for many years was acclaimed German Violinist Prof. Dr. Max-Ludwig Grube. With a growing interest in Folk/Country and improvised Music, Chris took Workshops in the US and Germany with Mark O’Connor, Darol Anger, Mark Wood, and Gregor Huebner.

With about 200 concerts per year as a featured soloist for numerous artists, Chris is a sought after live player. He has also contributed to 50 studio albums as a session/recording musician.

Paul Mulligan

Paul Mulligan may be a new name to many, but to some—such as American songwriting legend John Prine and Nashville producer Jim Rooney—he is already a highly regarded songwriter. His debut album Strong Friend invites comparison with the best, containing songs which are lyrical diamonds that cut with the precision of a scalpel to the heart of the matter. The music may be described as contemporary folk seasoned with his own native tradition together with American alternative country.

Paul was born in Dublin and grew up in Kells Co. Meath. He moved to Galway in 1996 where he set up the Audiomonkey recording studio and record label. He has been working behind the scenes in the music business there since. His music has been recorded by Irish singers Eleanor Shanley, Niamh Parsons, Mary McPartlan, Scottish band Fine Friday, and by California-based singer Sylvia Herold (Cats and Jammers).

John Sheahan

John Sheahan is an Irish musician and member of folk group The Dubliners—playing with the band for over 50 years. Over the years, John has been in steady demand as a session musician on other artists' records, such as Paddy Reilly, Foster & Allen, Daniel O’Donnell, Kate Bush, Terence Trent D'Arby, and The Fureys.

In the 1980s, his composition “The Marino Waltz” became a big hit with audiences across the world. Sheehan recorded three studio albums and two live albums throughout the 1980s. He collaborated with Andre Rieu on a number of works, the most famous being Irish Washerwoman. The Dubliners have now officially retired, but Sheahan continues to perform and compose.

Cillian Vallely

Cillian Vallely took up his father’s instrument and polished his skills with tutelage from the late Armagh piper Mark Donnelly. His mastery of chanter, drones and regulators, and of all the accents and moods of the traditional piping idiom, place him in the first rank of today’s Irish pipers. Cillian has toured with the group Lúnasa, has performed extensively in America with groups such as New York’s Whirligig and Paddy O’Brien’s Chulrua, has appeared with fiddler Seamus Connolly, Riverdance on Broadway, and Tim O’Brien’s The Crossing.

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Irish Arts Center programs are supported, in part, by government, foundation, and corporate partners including Culture Ireland, the agency for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office and the New York City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the National Endowment for the Arts; Howard Gilman Foundation; Jerome L. Greene Foundation; the Charina Endowment Fund; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; Delta Air Lines; M&T Bank; The Ireland Funds; the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Consulate of Ireland in New York; Northern Ireland Bureau; Tourism Ireland; and thousands of generous donors like you.